For game developers looking to get their projects some much-needed funding, the Kickstarter website has become the “go-to” place for fans to rally and pledge their support in the form of monetary donations. The popularity of Kickstarter has risen in the past few months due to high profile campaigns such as Wasteland 2, which has so far raised $1.6 million and is still ongoing, and one from Tim Schafer of Double Fine, which raised over $3 million for the company’s next adventure game. Hoping to replicate these successes, game designer Christian Allen, known for his work on the Tom Clancy’s: Ghost Recon titles as well as Halo: Reach, is currently holding a Kickstarter project for a new PC-exclusive tactical first-person shooter Takedown, which is being developed through his company Serellan LLC.

Being touted as a spiritual successor to games in the popular Rainbow Six andSWAT series, Takedown is a first-person tactical shooter, set in modern times, that emphasizes strategic and methodical gameplay over the “run and gun” mechanics that dominate many games in the genre. Elements that have become series staples, such as auto-regenerating health and optimal weapon loadouts, are scrapped in favor of tactical gameplay in which the gamer must ensure they have the right tools for the right situation. This gameplay also focuses on squad-based objectives that require you to utilize your team and direct them according to your assessment of the situation. The mission variety outlined on the Takedown Kickstarter page includes scenarios such as hostage rescue, asset recovery, security and target elimination. Allen emphasises that Takedown is a “thinking-person’s shooter” that will provide a different experience from the tactical shooters that have come before it. An amusing short film to launch the Kickstarter campaign further pushes this point, as well as the fac that Takedown is a community-driven endeavour.

The Kickstarter campaign for Takedown has currently raised over $130,000 from over 3,500 individual backers. While these numbers are impressive, they are well short of the $200,000 target that was initially set and the campaign closes on April 1, 2012. Those wishing to donate can head over to the Kickstarter Page and read up on all the details, including what incentives being offered based on how much you donate. These include access to special communities, in-game perks and voting rights on new weapons and gameplay elements for the lower amounts, all the way up to studio tours, getting your face in the game and even a private party with Christan Allen himself for those who donate larger sums of money. Note that the Takedown project will only be funded if their goal of $200,000 is reached by April 1, 2012, so those wishing to pledge support need to move fast.

It’s also not guaranteed to get made even if they make the target, as apparently the Kickstarter is only intended to convice ‘venture capitalists’ that there’s a market. So it’s entirely possible that any money donated will vanish into a bottomless pit.